Tips for planning a Europe/Asia trip with QFF

[mcollins]

Hello,


I'm looking at taking a trip with my wife to Europe and then Asia over the Dec/Jan prior and would like some advice on the best way to maximum my points/keep costs down. The plan is to travel around Europe for a few weeks and then spend about a week in Vietnam. I currently have 170,000 QFF points (and 30,000 Velocity points). I'm currently considering taking up the Jetstar Mastercard offer which should give me another 30,000 points.

The following is what I see as being the best use of points:

Sydney to London - 128,000 points (leaving 42,000)
London to Singapore - 84,000 (leaving -42,000 points - I'll need to find another 42,000 points before we book)
Singapore to Vietnam to Singapore - $240 (on Jetstar)
Singapore to Sydney - $540 (on Scoot)

My second option, and maybe more realistic option:

Sydney to London - 128,000 points (leaving 42,000)
Amsterdam to Vietnam - $1,340 (probably with BA + Vietnam Airlines or Aeroflot)
Vietnam to Sydney - 60,000 points (leaving -18000)

Note I haven't included taxes/surcharges and all tickets are using Classic Awards (they seem better than ASA?).

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[greenfish]

Make sure you factor in the taxes etc; for QF Y redemptions these can end up not so much less than the cost of a standard revenue ticket.

Also how is availability in Dec / Jan? You might have left redemption booking a bit late...

 

[RooFlyer]

Heathrow (and perhaps other London airports) is expensive in terms of fees you will have to pay in the cash component. Avoid it if you can (eg switch to EK for the final leg to Europe) or Manchester.

28 Degrees MasterCard (GE Money) doesn't charge extra for overseas currency use; no points etc earned but cheaper for overseas purchases. Over 3 weeks it would make a difference.